


Building a home, finding a family

by StrangeNoise



Series: Farmerverse [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Apologies, Arguments, Awkward Flirting, Cats, Chickens, Chickens named after famous people from history, Developing Relationship, Flirting, Gardening, Gavin and Nines are neighbors in this, Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, Oblivious Nines, Pets, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Tina has the only braincell again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22174000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangeNoise/pseuds/StrangeNoise
Summary: Unsure of what to do with his freedom as a deviant Nines moves into a small house on the outskirts of Detroit and buys himself some chickens for company. One of them turns out to be a literal wing-woman when she repeatedly escapes into Gavin's backyard and forces the human and the android to interactThis is a thread I did on twitter turned into an OS
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Farmerverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596130
Comments: 12
Kudos: 173





	Building a home, finding a family

Nines leaves the house early in the morning as he does every day to tend to his chickens. After the revolution almost a year ago had given androids their freedom, the RK900 unit hadn't quite known what to do with his life. Technically, he had been activated as a deviant and was free to do as he pleased. But such freedom quickly proved to be too much for him. Nines felt like he wanted or even needed guidance to get his life onto the right track. And when he was offered the opportunity to begin working as a cashier in a nearby supermarket and move into a small house with an enormous garden on the outskirts of Detroit he didn't hesitate for even a second. 

It was far beneath what he was capable of but it was enough to support Nines in his new life until he figured out, where he wanted it to go. His earnings, however meager, exceeded what he needed to pay for thirium and utilities. And when life at home got far too boring, Nines used that money to buy his chickens. Many androids got themselves animal companions, whether android or actual breathing animals. Like humans, they often chose cats or dogs. But Nines didn't understand cats and wasn't too fond of dogs. 

Chickens, however, intrigued him for some reason. He had no use for their eggs but his human co-workers appreciated them. The animals themselves are independent but will often show an unbelievable degree of loyalty and love towards Nines. They are the closest connection Nines currently has to someone else and the android is glad for it. Humans often confuse him but his chickens accept him as he is without him having to explain himself all the time. Maybe that's why he likes them so much, Nines think as he grabs a huge helping of the seeds he feeds his chickens and carries it out into the garden. Mostly, the chickens eat the grass outside but he likes to give them something extra from time to time. Nines enjoys taking care of them and delights in the way his pets flock around him when he steps outside with the small bucket. 

Soon enough, he is surrounded by eight chickens that storm out of their coop at the first sight of him and peck at the ground by his feet when he begins to pour the seeds there. Nines frowns and looks around to see if he can find his favorite chicken, Amelia Earhart, anywhere. She is adventurous and likes to stray, hence the name. But she is nowhere to be found and Nines becomes a little worried. He knows of the risks of leaving the coop open at night to let his chicken roam freely at all hours. But nothing in the garden suggests that a predator might have entered and harmed one of his chickens. No feathers or blood and the other chickens seem calm as well. Nines considers looking around the coop for clues when he suddenly hears a loud string of curses from the neighboring garden and feels like he knows where Amelia went to. 

Nines hasn't met his neighbor properly before despite living at the house for several months now. The other man is usually working at all hours of the day and when he is home, he never seems to be in the mood for pleasant conversation among neighbors. Sometimes, when Nines returns from work on the weekends, his neighbor will be in his garden and work there. Despite not being around much, he manages to take extremely good care of his backyard and Nines is impressed by the vast amount of vegetables the man cultivates there. Vegetables that seem to be quite tasty for chickens too, Nines figures when he hears someone exclaim "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY EGGPLANTS!" in the distance followed by Amelia's shrill clucking. 

A moment later, his neighbor appears by the fence, fighting to keep hold of the struggling chicken in his arms. There is a thunderous expression on his face and Nines is quite sure he's never seen a human this angry before. Still, he tries to keep his calm and takes Amelia from the man as soon as he's within reach.

"Keep your fucking chickens out of my backyard" the man barks angrily, huffing and puffing as if he's trying to intimidate Nines. 

"I'm very sorry" the android assures him truthfully "It's hard keeping track of them but I will do my best. And I'll of course pay for all damages."

"I don't care about money!" his neighbor grouses "I just want your damn chickens to leave my vegetables alone!"

"I'll do my best to keep her over here" Nines promises yet again, hoping it will placate the angry man at least somewhat. It doesn't seem to be doing much if the way the man storms off is anything to go by but it's not like Nines can do much about that now. He thinks about how little he still understands humans as he locks Amelia in the coop. She complains noisily and it hurts Nines a little to keep her away from her friends, but he hopes that she will learn to stay away from his neighbor's vegetables this way.

Before he locks the door entirely, he collects the eggs his hens have laid this morning and takes them back inside with him. Nines gets ready for work, writes a note to his neighbor and places that and the eggs in a small box that he leaves on his neighbor's front steps before heading off to work. By the time Nines returns from work that night, the box has been returned. "Keep your chickens away from my vegetables!!!" is scribbled on the back of his note. Nines scoffs at that. But at least his neighbor took the eggs. He hopes that means his peace offering has at least been somewhat accepted. The android heads inside with a shake of his head and hopes he won't have further troubles with the small man from next door. 

Life goes on quietly for a few days after the Amelia-incident and the poor chicken looks so miserable Nines finally relents and lets her join her friends again. He heads off to buy some groceries and when he returns, he has been in his house for all of five minutes before there is a harsh knock on the door. Nines has a feeling that he knows, who this is, and goes to open the door. And indeed, it's his neighbor standing on his porch, face red and cheeks puffing with anger. 

"Come pick up your fucking chicken!" he demands and grabs Nines by the wrist. He yanks on it but Nines has no intention of following him and is far stronger than the human. His neighbor moves forward until he is violently pulled back by the fact that Nines' arm won't extend any further. The man almost loses his balance which seems to make him even angrier. 

"What the fuck?!" he exclaims, spinning around to glare at Nines "What part of 'get your fucking chicken' did you not fucking get?!"

"Oh, I understood perfectly" Nines replies calmly "But I'd like for you to explain what happened first before I follow you." 

"Well what the fuck do you think happened?!" his neighbor grouses "One of your damn chickens got into my garden again and started eating my stuff!"

"Amelia?" Nines asks.

"How the hell would I know?!" his neighbor retorts "It's the brown one!" Nines has five brown chickens: Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, Cleopatra, Elizabeth I., and Jane Austen. But since his neighbor has never met them he understands his confusion. The android is pretty sure it's Amelia again since she's the most adventurous of his chickens.

"I'm very sorry" Nines assures his neighbor "I'll come to pick her up immediately." He finally follows his neighbor, who looks surprised for a moment but then leads the way. 

"I would've thrown her over the fence myself but I've been running after the damn bird for an hour and couldn't catch it" the small man complains as they enter his house and walk through the living room to the back door. Nines barely has time to examine the rustic but comfortable-looking interior of the house, too busy following his neighbor and trying not to chuckle at the mental image of the man running after a chicken for an hour. 

"Where is the chicken?" Nines asks instead once they reach his neighbor's backyard. 

"Over there I think" the man replies grumpily and points in a vague direction. Nines follows the instructions given and quickly finds Amelia peacefully tearing bits off a big head of lettuce. The salad is beyond saving and Nines gives the chicken a stern look despite knowing it won't understand what he's trying to convey. With expert ease, he picks Amelia up and returns to the back door. 

"I'm very sorry about the lettuce Amelia destroyed" Nines says truthfully "I can recompense you for it if you tell me a price." 

"Oh fuck off I don't care about your money" the man barks "Just make sure the damn chicken stays out of my backyard!"

"I will do my best" Nines promises and is ready to head back to his place when he suddenly remembers something. 

"I don't think we've ever properly introduced ourselves" he says, tucking Amelia under one arm so he can extend the other to hold out one hand to his neighbor "I'm Nines." His neighbor looks at him warily for a moment, then takes his hand and shakes it briefly. 

"Gavin" he mutters with a glare "Now get that damn chicken out of my sight."

"Alright, see you around, Gavin" Nines says and returns back to his house. As much as it hurts him, Nines locks Amelia up again. She looks betrayed but he feels like he has no choice until he figures out some way to keep her from entering Gavin's garden. 

Over the next few weeks, nothing really happens. Gavin tends to his garden and Nines takes care of his chickens. Sometimes they meet near the fence that separates their properties and say a quick 'hello' but never much more. Nines buys lettuce and leaves it on Gavin's porch together with some more eggs. Gavin never thanks him but the boxes always come back empty and that's enough for Nines for the moment. 

The more time passes, the more often the android catches himself wondering what kind of person Gavin truly is. Sure, he seems gruff and unfriendly but Nines is pretty sure that that's just some facade the human-built. He tries to deduce what Gavin's job could be from when the human leaves to and returns from work. The times often differ greatly so Nines quickly assumes the human works in shifts. That still leaves lots of possible career options and doesn't help much. But Nines is determined to find out nevertheless. Unfortunately, Gavin shuts down every attempt at a conversation and as interested as Nines is in his neighbor, he doesn't want to push too much and make the man uncomfortable. 

Weeks pass and Nines' fascination with Gavin doesn't lessen one bit. On the contrary, it seems to get even stronger. At first, Nines doesn't pay it any mind. But once he realizes his thoughts about Gavin take up considerable processing capacity, he begins to investigate the matter. Several internet searches and a conversation with a co-worker later, Nines is pretty sure he has a crush on his neighbor. That does solve his problem of having to find out why he is thinking about Gavin so much - but it conjures up a myriad of new ones. For one, Nines has never had a crush before. In fact, he's pretty sure he's been built to be the perfect, unfeeling killing machine. The fact that he has feelings at all is straying so far from his original programming that he's surprised he hasn't forced himself into a shutdown from overthinking yet. Then, there's the question of whether Nines wants to pursue his crush or not and how to do that if he wants to. Those thoughts and worries are distracting and Nines sometimes thinks he'd be better off without them. Then again, having a crush is new and exciting and curiosity wants him to explore the full extent of his emotions. 

So finally, one surprisingly warm day in early autumn, Nines decides to spend some time to think in his backyard. He drags a deck chair out there and gets as comfortable as he can and even frees Amelia from the coop. She's been well-behaved these past weeks and in case she pulls any stunts, Nines tells himself that he's there to stop her. So he sits in his backyard and thinks about his life and possible choices. He's been there for about five minutes when he hears the flapping of wings and opens his eyes to see Amelia hop into Gavin's backyard and immediately make a run for it. Within seconds Nines is out of his chair and follows his chicken over the fence. He catches Amelia just before she can reach a patch of eggplants and hopes to return to his own backyard unnoticed. But of course, Gavin has seen him and stalks towards him with a stormy expression on his face.

„Are you serious right now?!“ Gavin exclaims, gesturing angrily towards Nines and his chicken “I ask you for one damn thing and you can’t even get that right! Aren’t you plastics supposed to be smart or something?!”

“I’m sorry, Gavin” Nines assures his neighbor but the smaller man doesn’t seem to want to listen. 

“What’s so hard about keeping your fucking chickens in check?!” Gavin continues “All I’m asking is that you make sure they don’t destroy half my backyard.”

“That’s why I followed Amelia and caught her before she could eat your vegetables” Nines explains but Gavin just shakes his head angrily.

“Well she didn’t fuck my shit up this time around but you did!” the small man continues angrily “You jumped right into my eggplants, dipshit!” Nines turns to see the patch he had landed in after jumping over the fence. With a growing sense of dread, he realizes that he has indeed crushed some of Gavin’s vegetables under his feet upon landing. He was so focused on catching Amelia that he didn’t pay any attention to what he might be stepping on.

“I’m so sorry, Gavin” Nines says again and yet again Gavin seems unwilling to listen “I can pay for the damage and-“

“I told you before I don’t care for the money!” Gavin yells so harshly that Nines takes a step back in surprise “All I’m asking for is some peace and quiet! I’m a cop and my job is a fucking nightmare at times. This damn garden is the only place I can relax in for at least a little bit and now you and your dumb chickens have come along and keep destroying it! I’ve had it…”

“Gavin, I-“ Nines begins again only to be interrupted once more.

“Save it” the small man growls “Just…get back into your yard and make sure this doesn’t happen again. The next time I see any of your chickens over here, I’ll turn them into fucking chicken nuggets.” Gavin looks like he is dead serious. Nines swallows thickly, then nods and climbs back over the fence into his own backyard. There, he collects all of his chickens and locks them inside the coop until he can come up with a way to keep them from leaving the garden again. That night, he places another box of eggs on Gavin’s doorstep. This time around, it is returned to him untouched.

In the following weeks, Nines and Gavin don’t talk at all. They don’t even greet each other and when they see each other in their backyards, there’s a tense silence between them. When he isn’t at work, Nines works on an outdoor enclosure for his chickens. They’re extremely unhappy being locked up in the coop all the time but he can’t risk them getting harmed. The enclosure is mainly wooden planks and chicken wire and it’s not as big as it probably should be for nine chickens but Nines is happy with it nonetheless. Even with his android strength and speed, it takes him well over a week until the thing is finished. The door especially gives him a headache. But finally, it’s done and Nines has never seen his chickens as happy as they are when they are finally allowed to roam around their own little piece of the backyard again. 

If Gavin notices their new enclosure, he doesn’t say anything. Nines feels miserable. It’s not like they had any deep connection before the latest Amelia-incident but at least they would occasionally talk. Now, neither has said a word to the other in weeks and every time Nines brings Gavin some eggs, they are promptly returned. Nines tries talking about it with his co-workers, but it doesn’t lead anywhere. Half of them say he should apologize again and show his goodwill, the other half says he did what he could and that Gavin is overreacting. Nines, with his limited ability to understand human emotion, doesn’t know which part of the group to believe and so he is stuck being miserable, hoping that Gavin will come around eventually and they can get back to some form of normality again.

For a while, it seems like that day will never come. Then, one day, Nines is outside looking after his chickens when he sees Gavin out in the backyard with a woman. For a split-second, Nines is jealous. But then he hears that they are arguing. Nines doesn’t want to listen to their conversation but they’re very loud and he has hearing abilities far superior to those of humans anyway. Or at least that’s what Nines tells himself as he listens to them fighting.

“I know this garden means a lot to you, Gavin, but you really shouldn’t be so harsh on the poor guy” the woman says with a huff.

“Why not?!” Gavin replies angrily “Everything was perfectly fine until he showed up with his dumb chickens!”

“They’re animals, Gavin! There’s only so much he can do to control them!” the woman reasons.

“Do you think I don’t know that Tina?!” Gavin barks back “If you forgot: I have two cats, who are little shits and can barely be controlled but I’ve never had to fetch them from some neighbor’s garden!”

“Because they’re indoor cats, you idiot!” Tina sighs in exasperation “Look, I’m not saying either of you is completely in the right or in the wrong. I’m just seeing that this dumb feud bothers you and I want you to be happy.”

“Yeah, well, he locked his chickens up so I’m fine now” Gavin grumbles and Nines’ thirium pump squeezes in his chest. He looks over to where his chickens are happily picking at the grass inside their enclosure and wonders if he would have to give them up entirely if he wanted to pursue his crush on Gavin. He doubts he could bring himself to sell them.

“I can tell you’re not fine, idiot” Tina argues “This is a stalemate if anything. Not a solution that will work out for either of you in the long run.”

“And what do you expect me to do?” Gavin wants to know. He flicks something that looks like a cigarette butt to the ground and the two head back inside. Nines is disappointed. He wants to hear what Tina would have suggested. She seems reasonable and maybe with her help, he and Gavin find back to at least talking to one another. But, as painful as it is, it doesn’t seem like that is what Gavin wants right now anyway. Nines sighs and eventually heads back inside. His thoughts are racing and he wants nothing more than for Tina to convince Gavin to talk to him again. But he will just have to wait and see.

That night, there’s a knock on Nines’ door. Confused, the android goes to open it. He doesn’t usually get visitors if he hasn’t invited anyone. To his great surprise, he is soon faced with Gavin, who stands on his doorstep, looking like he wants to do something important but has no idea how to do it.

“Hey” he says and for the first time since Nines met him he sounds almost shy “Can I come in?”

“Of course” Nines says without hesitation and steps aside to let Gavin in. The smaller man gives him a weak half-smile and walks through to the living room, where he stops and stands awkwardly.

“I’m trying to make this quick because I don’t even really know what to say” Gavin begins once Nines joins him. He looks uncomfortable and kind of out of place in Nines’ living room and the android wants to ease his discomfort. The only thing is he doesn’t know how. So he just stands there and wills his facial expression to look somewhat understanding. 

“I’m here to apologize for being so hard on you and your chickens these past weeks” Gavin finally says after long moments of silence “There were other ways to deal with this situation but I chose to be an asshole and that wasn’t okay. So…I’m sorry and I hope you can forgive me and maybe we can start over?” 

Nines’ thirium pump almost bursts out of his chest at Gavin’s words and despite everything that happened there’s no question he’s going to forgive Gavin. He hoped there would be a softer side underneath that tough and grumpy exterior and Nines feels almost blessed to finally be able to get to see it.

“I forgive you, Gavin” the android says after a moment of silence that goes on for so long he can feel Gavin growing restless next to him “And if you want we can try and figure out how to make things work with your garden and my chickens.” 

Nines has no idea yet how he’s going to keep Amelia and the others in check but if Gavin agrees, he’s sure they can come up with something. Gavin doesn’t seem like an idiot and Nines has near-endless processing power at his supply. It should be easy to find a solution together.

“That would be great” Gavin agrees and the smile that spreads on his face this time seems more genuine than the last. Nines’ eyes immediately zero in on it and he focusses all of his processing power on saving every tiny detail about it to analyze later. His thirium pump continues pounding wildly in his chest.

“You know, the thing is…” Gavin continues and Nines can see his stress levels rising “And I know this isn’t an excuse but…this house and my garden belonged to my grandfather once. I spent lots of time there as a kid and he taught me everything he knew. When he died no one but I wanted to take care of the property. They all thought the garden was too much work. But I didn’t want to lose all my memories and that stuff. So I moved in and started taking care of the garden.” 

Gavin interrupts himself to rub at his eyes. Nines feels like he should do something but he doesn’t know what that would be. Near-panicking, he does what his co-workers do whenever they try to calm him down and puts a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. Sparks of electricity shoot through Nines at the contact and he feels close to a soft reboot. Gavin shoots him a warm glance and Nines is pretty sure if he was a human he would faint right now.

“Anyway, the garden’s just important to me because it reminds me of my grandpa so much” Gavin concludes “I’m proud of the veggies I grow because I know he’d be proud of me and when something happens to them I get upset because my grandpa would get upset. It’s dumb but…it’s how it is.” 

Nines blinks slowly once, then twice. Again, he has no idea how to react. Instinct tells him to hug Gavin like one of his co-workers did when he was particularly down after his fight with Gavin. And that’s what he does. It’s awkward and probably a little too abrupt if the way Gavin stumbles and almost falls is anything to go by but the android gets to wrap his arms around the human and it’s nice.

“I am so sorry, Gavin” Nines assures him again “If I had known this was why you were so upset, I would have never-“

“No!” Gavin interrupts him and struggles out of Nines’ hold “That’s what I’m trying to tell you! It’s not your fault! Yeah, I’m sentimental about my grandpa’s old property and your chickens shouldn’t be roaming around eating peoples’ stuff. But my reaction was over the top and I shouldn’t have made you build this dumb enclosure and all.”

“But the girls like it” Nines replies dumbly and Gavin actually laughs at that. 

“I’m glad I’m at least not making them unhappy” he says softly and Nines can’t help but smile. It’s beautiful seeing Gavin’s softer side on display like this and he can hear his internal fans whirring with the effort of keeping the many processes focused on the human going. 

“So…I guess that’s what I came here for” Gavin states after a while, some of the discomfort from earlier returning to his frame “It’s my day off tomorrow so…maybe you can come over and we can discuss what to do about your chickens?”

“That sounds lovely” Nines agrees excitedly “I can bring some eggs and we could make an omelet for you. I’m no household android but I should be good enough at that.” 

“Yeah, sure, why not” Gavin nods and smiles “See you tomorrow then. He turns to leave and something is pulling at the inside of Nines’ chest, just behind his thirium pump.

“Can we hug again before you go?” he blurts out before he really knows what he’s doing. Gavin stops in his tracks and turns around to look at Nines with a raised brow.

“Sure. But don’t pull me in as you did earlier. I thought you were trying to suffocate me” the human says but there’s no malice behind it, only slight amusement. 

Nines still blushes deeply, which is embarrassing but has the benefit of making Gavin smile again. The smaller man walks back up to him and wraps his arms around Nines. The android slings his arms awkwardly around Gavin in turn and as they hold each other, it feels like something clicks into place. Nines doesn’t want to let go ever again but he knows he has to. Still, he notices Gavin lingering. The hug lasts far longer than what Nines estimates to be normal between people. 

“See you tomorrow” Gavin says after finally letting go of Nines.

“See you tomorrow” Nines replies and watches Gavin leave. His thirium pump is racing in his chest and he knows there is no way he isn’t going to pursue his crush on Gavin anymore. He spends the entire night looking up advice to prepare himself for the next day. And when the sun rises in the east, the android feels he is ready to start flirting with Gavin.

When he arrives at Gavin’s house late the next morning, Nines quickly finds that flirting with Gavin might be more difficult than he had first anticipated. The man opens the door with his hair still ruffled from sleep and Nines can barely resist the urge to run his hands through his hair. Numbly, he follows Gavin to the kitchen, where he luckily manages to make idle conversation with his neighbor while Gavin makes himself an omelet with the eggs Nines brought with him and some vegetables from the garden.

“Too bad you don’t eat” Gavin comments halfway through his breakfast “This is delicious.”

“Maybe we should work together more often, then” Nines suggests with what he hopes is a suggestive smile. Gavin snorts but nods as he shovels more omelet into his mouth. Nines stops smiling and blushes slightly.

“So, what do we do about the chicken situation?” Gavin asks after he has finished his breakfast and raises a brow “The way I see it there are two options: Either we put a fence around my veggies or around your chickens.”

“It’s definitely easier to keep your vegetables in one place than my chickens” Nines states and Gavin nods solemnly “But putting a barrier around all the patches would mean you would have to completely restructure your garden in spring and even replant some of your plants.” It would be a solution but a rather complicated and expensive one. And nothing is to say that things would regrow the way they once were. Besides, Nines isn’t sure how willing Gavin is to take a risk this big with the garden he loves so much.

“Any other options?” Gavin wants to know “Not to dismiss this one immediately but redoing decades of work because of one adventurous chicken seems a bit extreme, don’t you think?” Nines nods. Gavin is right. It’s only ever been Amelia, who tried to escape his garden and explore Gavin’s. The other girls were far calmer and seemed more comfortable in their new enclosure anyway. They sit in silence for a moment, then Gavin clears his throat.

“How about we rebuild the enclosure?” he suggests “We could take away part of the fence between our gardens, where I don’t grow anything anyway and make it so the chickens can be in whatever garden they like. If you teach me how to handle them we can even build in a door on my side so they can hang out at my place too if they want to.” Nines’ eyes widen and he’s sure his thirium pump is about to burst right out of his chest.

“That would be lovely” he answers, his voice hoarse and he has to restart his voice modulator “I’d love to show you how to handle my chickens.”

“That sounds like the world’s lamest pick-up line” Gavin comments with a snort.

“Maybe it is” Nines replies boldly, feeling a blush creep across his face yet again. Gavin cocks his head and looks at him searchingly.

“Are you flirting with me?” he asks and Nines’ thirium pump hammers even harder in his chest. 

“That depends” he says “Is it working?”

“Not necessarily” Gavin replies and for a moment Nines’ feels close to a shutdown “But you’re cute either way. And if you’re gonna teach me how to ‘handle your chickens’ I can teach you how to flirt in return.”

“Sounds wonderful” Nines states, trying not to get overwhelmed by emotions. It’s hard to do, when Gavin sits across him, smiling like an idiot and seeming just as happy as Nines is. The android has no idea how things are going to progress from here on out but he is ready for whatever is to come as long as Gavin is by his side.

As it turns out, getting with Gavin is far easier than flirting with him has been. Their first ‘date’ is spent at a hardware store, buying supplies for the bigger enclosure. Gavin insists he pay the material since he’s the one, who insisted on building an enclosure in the first place. But at least he allows Nines to buy him a coffee once they’re done and that’s enough for the android for the moment.

Their next date lasts an entire three-day-weekend. Gavin has taken Friday and all the weekend off to build the enclosure with Nines. They work surprisingly well together and Nines finds this project way more fun than the last. He and Gavin joke around and Gavin does try to teach Nines how to flirt. But since he chooses to ‘teach by example’, as he calls it, it’s mainly Gavin flirting with Nines and the android trying not to blush at everything the human says to him. 

While they work, Gavin also tries to learn all of Nines’ chickens' names, which the android finds absolutely endearing. Gavin can’t tell Amelia Earhart and Jane Austen apart for the life of him which amuses the android and annoys the human – even more so when Nines is introduced to Gavin’s cats and, of course, has no trouble telling the red tabby and the massive black Main Coon apart.

All of that makes Gavin even smugger when he kisses Nines on Sunday night, right after the enclosure is finished and it almost sweeps the android off his feet. If he’s honest, Nines has been fantasizing about kissing Gavin almost all weekend but had no idea how to make it happen. So when it _does_ happen he’s completely unprepared. But he finds he likes it. And it’s another thing Gavin can teach him more about, he suggests to his neighbor. Gavin agrees enthusiastically and they kiss again. This time, Nines manages to pull up whatever research he did on kissing and manages to kiss back, even if only a little. When they return to their respective houses that night, they’re not only neighbors, they’re also boyfriends. Nines couldn’t tell exactly how it happened but he’s ridiculously happy that it did.

And from that Sunday on, it’s not an uncommon sight to see the two men in either garden, sitting between patches of vegetables or just in the soft grass, chickens picking idly around them. Strangely enough, Amelia immediately loses all adventurous ambitions as soon as she’s officially allowed in Gavin’s garden. Gavin claims the chicken wanted to get them together and dubs her their official wing-woman – which Nines doesn’t get at first because all his chickens have wings, after all. But Nines still likes the idea of his chickens finding a boyfriend for him and gives them extra pets whenever he can. Between his budding relationship with Gavin and both of them treating their pets almost like kids, Nines thinks he has finally found a family for himself. Granted, an android, a human, two cats, and nine chickens are a very strange family but it’s all Nines never even knew he wanted and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.


End file.
